


-stranger things 3.0-

by oh_jeez_dude



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/F, Friends to Lovers, I KNOW THERE’S DE CAPITALIZATION IN THIS ITS FOR “A E S T H E T I C” PURPOSES :/, M/M, Mike Wheeler Is a Little Shit, attempted slow burn, justice for will, ten just wants happiness, we stan ten and will, “wen” is better than “mileven”, “wen” is the ultimate power couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:13:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24674413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oh_jeez_dude/pseuds/oh_jeez_dude
Summary: when eleven’s predecessor, ten, comes to the wheeler’s asking to join the party. the gang’s wary as they never suspected an old foe would return...
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Will Byers/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 9





	-stranger things 3.0-

**Author's Note:**

> this was a lot shorter than i intended it to be, but god damn am i not proud of it!

mike was happy, to say the least. as eleven and will were visiting, even if it was for a short while, the party was back together again. and that’s all that mattered. as the kids chatted, mike heard a knock at the door.   
‘who could that be?’ he thinks to himself, as he opens the door. 

he meets the eyes of a young boy, quite short for his age, with a mess of curls for hair, with a white streak, olive skin and dark brown eyes, topping it off with store brought glasses. 

“h-hi, a-are you mike wheeler? c-can i come in?” the boy stammers awkwardly. mike mumbles a quick “sure...” as he leads him down to his basement. eleven immediately took notice of the boy next to mike. “ten?” she gasps, as ‘ten’ has the same surprised expression. “e-eleven?!” 

eleven rushes over and pulls him into a hug, before pulling away and sitting back down. “you two know each other?” mike asks. “yeah...i-i’m sure eleven’s told you of the other runaway test subjects? i’m one of them.” the boy hesitantly shows the number ‘010’ marked into his wrist. “i know, through sources, of how you’ve saved hawkins for the past years.”

mike becomes suspicious. ‘sources?’ he thinks. “what sources?” he asks. 

“i’m still affiliated through hawkins lab. but i want out, i know of the mind flayer and i think i have something that can help.” explains ten as he looks over to a candle on the table beside him. putting his hand over the candle, the fire slightly strengthened. 

“you’re like the human torch! but, y’know...” dustin trailed off. “weak, i know.” ten finished for him, albeit gravely. “so, as i was saying. i want to help, truly.” mike pulls the others away for quick sidebar in the next room.

“i don’t trust him! he’s working for the lab? he could very well betray us and give away el’s location so they can recapture her!” mike almost screeches. “mike,” eleven spoke calmly. “i know ten, he won’t betray us. he truly wants to help. he’s a good person.” 

“yeah! the guy has fire powers! with enough training he can help us against the mind flayer!” dustin says. everyone gives him a look. 

“i have to agree with eleven, mike. he surely can’t be that bad as you think he is, give him a chance?” will chimes in, quietly. mike weighs his decisions before accepting, as he heads out with the others to give the final verdict to ten.

worry was swirling around ten’s head, as he thinks ‘are they gonna let me in? what if they don’t? what am i gonna do then?’ 

mike arrived, as he says “you’re in.” he gives him a rather uneasy smile that ten picks up on.

ten simply smiles back and nods. 

“i won’t let you guys down.” 

———————  
days turn to months, turn to one year as the kids quickly eased around ten. as they learn he’s a laid back, kind, and funny kid. but they’re quick to learn his flaws as he’s quick to anger when something doesn’t go his way. especially when he’s training his powers, which is what he’s been devoting his time to. when something doesn’t go his way when training, he would mope about it, with will always there to reassure him. (really, moping and getting angry would how any teen would act if they had superpowers.) 

out of everyone in the group, ten and will instantly hit it off.

  
both ten and will shared the same interests, being both creative people. as will liked to draw, ten preferred to write. whenever ten wasn’t training, will loved to hear his writing ideas and would even try drawing how he imagined his ideas. ten would cherish those drawings with his heart, leaving will a blushing mess.   
—————————  
ten trains and trains to push past his limits, almost entirely devoting his time to training, he would practice on smaller sources (like candles or gas stoves) and it was becoming so much easier than before. his body temperature wasn’t declining as drastically then before. as he then decided to practice on slightly larger sources of fire, leaving him exhausted but accomplished whenever he thought of something that motivated him. 

his motivation? will. he was the one who could push ten to go further beyond his limits.

whenever ten had moped about failing something during his training, will would always be there to support him and push him to be greater, leaving them both happy. 

and the motivation always payed off, whenever ten would think of will during his training, his focus would boost, and his powers would increase. leaving ten proud as he accomplished something he thought he never could. all because of will being by his side, never giving up on him. and ten would do the same for his friend. 

————————-

will catches ten practicing on a log fire in the backyard. the fire sightly larger than what he normally practices on. ten was seemingly not getting the fire to do what he wanted. his temper flared, as that only strengthened the fire slightly, ten in his anger, ignored his steadily decreasing body temperature, as he also ignored the frost forming on his face and hands. 

will walks up to ten, spooking the superhuman. ten tries to calm himself as he answers with a quick irritated “what?” to will. will just gave him a smile, “it looks like you need a little motivation.” ten calmed himself taking a few deep breaths, “yeah, guess i do.” he says, as he gave the fire in front of him a death glare. will chuckled slightly at that as he thought of things to motivate ten. an idea came to his head. “i want you to think of something that angers you, something that really grinds your gears, or makes you want to cry until you can’t anymore.” will thinks of his time in the upside down, and the aftermath of the events when he returned. “while you’re thinking of that, think of something that motivates you to keep going, to keep practicing. something that means dear to you.” will thought of ten. 

“i guess i can try,” says ten, as he focuses on what angers him. he thought of his time in the lab, as brenner and his assistants exploited his abilities day after day and punished him if he didn’t do something right or didn’t flat out listen. he thought of how he was abused when punished, never using his powers against the guards that threw him in solitary confinement. he oppressed his anger and fear whenever something went wrong. as he remembers it boosts his focus as the fire’s strength increased. his hands were smoking as cinder tickled his fingertips, he thought of his anger toward brenner and how he wanted to use his powers against him, unleash the fear and anger in one foul sweep against the scientist. the smoke from his outstretched hands and the cinders from his fingertips increased, the fire growing somewhat larger. as he was thinking of brenner, he thought of someone that motivated him to keep him going, to never stray from putting his time and energy into practicing. he thought of will, finally his hands burst into flames, he screamed out of pure anger over his past as the fire from his hands streamed, he directed it over to the flames in front of him. the fire growing as it shot up. 

after that, frost quickly  
formed over his hands and face as ten’s body temperature dropped drastically, he practically threw himself onto the fire in front of him. as he was thankfully wearing fire resistant clothing. will had gotten worried for a moment, as ten then explained he’s resistant to fire. 

after ten had recovered (which was well into the night.) will asked what motivates him to keep going, ten had simply said, “it’s you, will.” the two shared a warm look after that. as will thought ‘he thinks of me? funnily enough...i think of him, too.’

  
————————————  
days had passed after ten had accomplished what he’s been training for, as will’s admiration for ten was steadily growing. he admired everything about ten, his persistence, his kindness, his quietness. he sometimes draws him in his spare time. he’s started to become even more closer with the pyrokinetic, even more so than mike. he remembers last night, after ten had accomplished his training, he and the superhuman were discussing his time in the lab and will’s experience in the upside down. and how his friends gave him next to nothing when he returned, them all moving on and complaining about their girlfriends. 

ten felt such pain for will, as he says he deserves better. will is surprised as his strong empathy as he thinks they’re a lot alike then he originally thought. will then blushes and says quietly.

“i’m glad i met you.” 

  
he’s never really talked about his time in the upside down with anyone. as ten smiles and expresses the same, they glance and smile warmly at each other. in that moment, will realizes.   
‘oh my god. i have a crush on ten!’ he tears away from the superhuman’s warm gaze, blushing as he tried to focus on his drawing. 

ten quickly looked away as well, as he blushed. ‘it’s obvious,’ he thinks ‘you got a crush on will.’ he hopes will couldn’t feel ten’s body heat as he was practically radiating it.

  
———————————  
ten and will were growing closer and closer, as they would break off from the group from time to time. no one really minded, as el and max would do the same. but mike minded. he minded strongly. he never eased around ten, in fact. he hated him, he hated that he was still affiliated with the lab, and he hated it more that he was spending so much time with will. 

when ranting about this to max, she had simply said “maybe you’re just jealous.” and mike promptly shut that claim down. ‘jealous? what was there to be jealous about?’ he thought. 

his eyes trained on ten and will chatting about whatever creative streaks they were on. and it dawned on mike. oh, right. he was jealous of ten. he already didn’t trust him as it is, and now his distrust and quite frankly hatred for the superhuman reached a boiling point, as he went over to him.

“what’re you trying to plan, ten? to take will away from us?! to betray the group to work for the lab so you can further trample our plans to save the town?! i know what you’re trying to get at. and by using will is by far the lowest of the low!” he went on and on. until his voice gave out. 

ten’s temper flared as he shot up, smoke radiating off of him. 

“mike, do you seriously believe i would do that?! never in my fucking life would i plan to betray will or the group! what’s gotten into you?! because i’m sick of being treated as something lowly, just because of my past or my own godforsaken powers! and now...my own friend? thinks of me as a weapon for the place that abused me?! your delusional, mike!” 

ten stormed off, heading up the stairs and towards the door, his body temperature rising so much so that he practically almost melted the doorknob as he threw it open. anger was swirling in his mind he didn’t even realize, standing in front of him, was two hawkins lab agents. 

ten slammed the door as he raced back down to the basement.   
“it’s the lab! they found me!” he stressed. the others looked worried; “what?” said lucas, meaning for him to repeat what he said.

“the labs found me! i thought they’ve lost track of me!” ten almost screeched, panic racking his body. 

max and lucas took to the stairs, and looked through the window. ten was right. hawkins’ lab vans were strewn about the wheeler’s driveway. max and lucas sprinted back down, just in time to say for max to say “what’d we do?!”

“we need to be on the move. and i know just the place to go.” said dustin. 

—————————  
the kids scrambled to star court mall, with the lab tracking them down as they went. they raced into chips ahoy, as steve was talking to jonathan and nancy, about to close. “steve! don’t close yet!” dustin called as he rushed to the counter. “why? are you in dire need of ice cream?” steve joked, leaning against the counter. 

“no! it’s the lab! they’ve tracked me down! they could recapture eleven and i, if they find us!” steve immediately sobered up. looking over to nancy and jonathan. he knew of the lab and what they did to kids like eleven and ten. steve closed the shop and the gang headed over to a cheap store within the mall selling weapons and the like. 

they headed to the back of the store, the guns being locked. ten put his hand onto the lock, effectively melting it. jonathan and nancy grabbed the best guns they could find. 

while gearing up, max spoke to ten.   
“i know you like will. and he likes you too. so after this is all over, confess to him. it’s what i did with eleven.” ten smiles and promises, “i will.” max smiled and nodded. 

they continued to gear up, when they were done, jonathan gathered them for the plan. the blonde takes out a blueprint of the mall. “now that the lab knows we have two superhumans within the group. brenner would want to use all of the agents he has under his belt. i estimate he’d send some number of agents breaking through the glass ceiling as well as other entrances they could find. this is where the smoke bomb comes in,

he motioned to dustin, who held the smoke bomb in his hand.

dustin will throw the smoke bomb down onto the first story, effectively setting it off, blinding the agents, ten will propel down and knock them out.

as for the other entrances, we’ll split up to cover more ground. got that? let’s get into positions.”

the group leaves and spreads out, with half of them on the first floor and the other half on the second. they waited patiently. well, if waiting patiently means mike’s pacing and freaking out while spitting insults at ten. 

dustin snaps at him to “shut up! you hear that?” everyone hears a thumping-like sound. jonathan’s estimates were right, as a number of agents came crashing through the glass ceiling. they immediately started searching for ten and eleven.

as the agents were searching for them, dustin threw the smoke bomb. it set off as soon it landed. the agents were blinded, as ten propelled down using flames, he then manipulated the smoke to see the agents better. there was one near him, as he then recognized the fire resistant gear he was wearing. “guys! gonna need a little help here!” he hissed into his walkie talkie. “don’t worry! i got you!” said lucas through his walkie talkie.

once the smoke cleared somewhat, lucas had a shot, he aimed his slingshot and threw the rock hitting it against the glass helmet the agent was wearing it, before he could even so as scream, ten subdued him with smoke. 

he then realized the agents were surrounding him, as he couldn’t take them all on his own, he said into his walkie talkie. “gonna need a bit of help!” the gang quickly helped out, with steve hitting most of them with a bat, gunshots can be heard on jonathan and nancy’s side. 

once they cleared out most of the agents, brenner walked in. 

“ten, eleven. it’s me, papa.” he says, “i know i wasn’t kind to you, before. but you belong somewhere better, somewhere better that isn’t with pitiful humans. you’re above them. you’re one of a kind. and i want to make a change, for you two, to be a better father to you.” he raised his arms as to let them give him a hug.

  
the lights flickered and intensified, as eleven screamed “YOU LIAR!” she outstretched her hand, as brenner was raised into the air. she gave a quick nod to ten. smoke swirled around his hand, as he threw it at brenner’s face, subduing him.

————————

after that, the gang headed back to the wheelers. exhausted out of their minds.

ten flopped onto the couch, staring at the ceiling, until will walked in. ten sat up, “you can’t sleep?” he asked. 

“nah,” will said.

“how come?” ten replied

“got something on my mind.” will took a deep breath as he then said, “i like you, ten. y’know as in more than a friend.” 

ten just smiled and said “i feel the same.”

—————————  
two days after. will and ten gathered the others, “guys,” ten says as looks over to max. who gives him a reassuring look. “will and i? are a thing.” joyce’s hand shot up to her mouth. “oh, boys! i’m so happy for you!” she gives him both hugs and kisses to the forehead. excited chatter fills the room. as dustin cheers “yes!” as he held out his hand toward steve, who begrudgingly handed him 20 bucks. 

will looked over to mike, as ten looked over to jonathan. mike gave will a respectful nod, as jonathan said loudly enough for ten to hear amongst the loud chatter, “i’m proud of you both.”

  
upon staying at the wheeler’s for a bit, they were getting ready to head back to their place. “so, you could come with us, y’know?” will offers.

as ten chuckles “...maybe.”  
———————————  
meanwhile, in an underground base, brenner was watching ten and eleven through security cameras. 

“you’ll never leave my sight,” says brenner. as he turns his attention elsewhere, to another section of the lab. revealing scientists, who’re working on trying to re-open the upside down. 

“it’ll all come together, i’ll get them back...one way or another.”


End file.
